As Britain's first firefighters' strike in 25 years got under way at 6pm tonight, the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, branded it "unnecessary and unreasonable" and said it put lives at risk.
Up to 50,000 firefighters are now on strike for 48 hours, with the missing emergency cover provided by the army using vintage green goddess tenders. Union leaders raised the prospect, though, of firefighters crossing picket lines in "catastrophic" emergencies.
Speaking just around one hour before the strike started, Mr Prescott told the Fire Brigades Union (FBU): [There is] "a very real remedy in your own hands: don't put people's lives at risk." He added: "Be reasonable, not unreasonable - suspend the strike. I appeal to all firefighters - don't walk, talk."
Mr Prescott, speaking at a press conference, said he would be making a statement to the House of Commons tomorrow. A senior FBU official said the union's executive is likely to discuss calling more strikes next week, on top of three eight-day walkouts already scheduled before Christmas. Industrial action may extend into the new year.
Earlier today, union leaders spent almost four hours in talks with officials from the deputy prime minister's office and had a brief meeting with Mr Prescott.
But there was no sign of any breakthrough on the pay dispute. The FBU general secretary, Andrew Gilchrist, said as he left the meeting that the statutory responsibility for fire safety lay with the government and fire authorities.
The union is demanding a 40% pay rise to £30,000 a year and has rejected an offer of 11.3% over two years.
However, Mr Golchrist stressed that firemen and women were the "ultimate humanitarians" and said they would react in the event of any "catastrophic incident".
Asked whether that meant they would leave picket lines to help deal with an emergency, Mr Gilchrist replied: "There is every possibility that that is what they would do ... we will need to monitor this situation and we will be meeting again with officials."
However, the union leader said there were practical difficulties because the firefighters would not be at work so would not necessarily hear about any emergencies.
The prime minister, Tony Blair, said today that "no government on earth" could bow to the claims of FBU, which wants a 40% pay rise to take fire crew salary's to £30,000.
Mr Blair issued a fresh call for "common sense" in his Queen's speech address to MPs, insisting ministers had been "as reasonable and as generous as possible" in negotiations. He said: "They have been offered 11% over two years. That is more than nurses, it is more than teachers, it is more than police officers - it is much more."
At the moment there are heightened fears of a terrorist attack, and firefighter cover for this possibility is said to be of great concern to the government. Two days ago Mr Blair said the security services were warning of terrorist threats to a wide range of targets in the UK on an almost daily basis.
However, veteran leftwing former MP Tony Benn was giving his support to firefighters at Lambeth fire station in central London today. Speaking at the station, which is the headquarters of London's fire brigade, Mr Benn said: "I think the firefighters should have a proper pay structure. They were offered 16% by the local authorities and the government stopped it."
